BMW owns Alphabet.com and is looking at whether Google infringed on its trademark

A Google search page is seen through a magnifying glass in this photo illustration taken in Berlin, August 11, 2015. Google Inc is changing its operating structure by setting up a new company called Alphabet Inc, which will include the search business and a number of other units. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski

BMW owns Alphabet.com and is looking at whether Google infringed on its trademark

Independent.ie

BMW has said that it is looking into whether Google infringed any trademark rights after the Silicon Valley-based group set up a new company called Alphabet, which is also the name of a BMW subsidiary.

BMW has said that it is looking into whether Google infringed any trademark rights after the Silicon Valley-based group set up a new company called Alphabet, which is also the name of a BMW subsidiary.

"We are examining whether there are any implications over trademarks," a BMW spokeswoman said yesterday. The spokeswoman said there were currently no plans to take legal steps against Google.

A legal dispute is unlikely since Google made clear in its announcement on Monday that in creating a parent company called Alphabet Inc, it was not intending to build products and brands under that name.

Google has picked a name that is also a fairly common brand among American businesses. There are currently 103 trademark registrations in the United States that include the word "alphabet" or some close variation, according to a database search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

To prove a trademark infringement, a trademark owner would have to show that the new Alphabet created a "likelihood of confusion" among consumers between the two brands. This could occur if both brands offered similar goods and services.